It seemed too good to be true – and for an unlucky few, it was

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Can too many customers ever be bad for business? This is a question that the
founders of the Chicago-based internet start-up Groupon have had to grapple
with since their business took off from a standing start in 2008 to achieve
an estimated income of $500 million this year.

Groupon — the name is derived from group coupon — negotiates big discounts on
local goods and services in hundreds of cities in the United States and in
30 other countries. It passes these offers to consumers as a “deal of the
day” — say, $75 of tennis lessons for $35, or a $16 pork